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67 Maplewood Ave.

 In this house, we like to do an occasional film exchange. Over the summer, Marc curated GREAT SPORTS FILMS IN HISTORY, and I replied with BIG MOVIE MUSICALS OF VARYING QUALITY, 1960 TO THE PRESENT.


Right now, I'm running a series called I LOVE TILDA SWINTON. My family has watched "Michael Clayton," which is like the Gold Standard in terms of Tilda Swinton Worship. But can you even say that? Swinton was mesmerizing in "The Deep End," which we also enjoyed. She was stunning in "Julia," as well, even if the movie dragged in parts. She was ugly and strange and captivating!


I'm not sure if I will extend this project to I AM LOVE and A BIGGER SPLASH and DAVID COPPERFILED....but stay tuned....


My husband's response: TWENTY YEARS OF LAW AND ORDER: SVU. To my delight, I'm now an SVU addict. I like to lobby for the major Emmy nominees: the Mare Winningham chapter, the disturbing Ann-Margret murder mystery, the truly shocking Angela Lansbury/Alfred Molina/Rita Moreno collaboration.


My husband's own tastes run toward the Mariska-focused chapters: the one where she fights off the assault attempts of Pablo Schreiber, the one where she suddenly takes on custody of a baby. (I loved the baby moment, too, and I loved it because Mariska says--rather passive-aggressively--"Gosh, he seems so healthy!" And--this being New York--the scene's focus shifts to an irritated health-care worker, who rolls her eyes and says, "Look, we do our job." Great writing.)


SVU is getting the Barrett-Solomons through this odd, depressing season. Happy (?) viewing to you.

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